China says it tracked and drove away two Philippine vessels that it accused of entering waters near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, in the latest confrontation between the two countries in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Coast Guard said on Thursday that the Philippine ships had intruded into waters around the atoll despite repeated warnings. It said coast guard personnel had taken "necessary measures", including tracking, monitoring and interception, to force the vessels to leave.
The agency described its actions as "standard, professional and lawful" and reiterated China's claim to sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing refers to as Huangyan Dao.
"We urge the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing and provocative actions," the statement said.
The Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Scarborough Shoal is a rich fishing ground about 220km (137 miles) west of the Philippine island of Luzon. It is claimed by both China and the Philippines, with Beijing maintaining effective control of the area since 2012.
The latest incident comes just days after another confrontation between Chinese and Philippine vessels at the Second Thomas Shoal, another disputed reef in the South China Sea.
Both governments lodged diplomatic protests following that encounter. The dispute also featured prominently at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering on Wednesday.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro said in a post on X that she reiterated a protest over what she called "unacceptable actions against Filipino personnel" after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
China's Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as lodging a protest over "the Philippine personnel's egregious act of ramming Chinese law-enforcement vessels".
According to China's Foreign Ministry, Wang warned Manila that it would face "bitter consequences of its own making" if it continued what Beijing described as provocative actions in the South China Sea with the backing of outside powers.
The South China Sea remains one of the world's most disputed waterways, with China, the Philippines and several other countries asserting overlapping territorial claims.
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